Keeping The Darkness At Bay
by DexysMidnightCeltic
Summary: "It is important to fight, and fight again, and keep fighting, for only then can evil be kept at bay, though never quite eradicated." -Hogwarts- the next generation. Rumours are spreading, a dark magic looming closer. It is time- once again- to fight.
1. Aboard The Scarlet Engine

_Hello. I do not own any of the Harry Potter Characters in this fan fiction. This is the next generation Hogwarts. _

_And so we begin!_

…

The steam billowed from the old but loyal scarlet Hogwarts Express. Forcing himself up on to the step of the train seemed almost impossible, but with a nervous glance behind him at his nonchalant looking father and indifferent mother he took the step that would lead him on a journey to the castle he had heard so much about.

He reached for his luggage, but, with a lazy flick of his wand, his father had it in floating without support in the air, and perhaps, with more force then was needed, the slick suitcase flew into Scorpius' arms.

In the distance he heard families exchanging loving and excited goodbyes. He stood awkwardly, his trunk slipping from his hands, as his parents towered over him.

His father cleared his throat, "We'll write" he said simply, and Scorpius gave a small, curt nod.

It wasn't that his family did not care for him. On the contrary, he was always being fussed over by his mother, his father was always saying to anybody who would listen how proud he was of his son. His grandmother spoiled him on every occasion she had.

But there was always the need to keep up appearances. To have his mother fuss over the state of his robes or tearfully kiss him repeatedly would not at all sit well with their reputation. Scorpius had always hated reputations.

His mother allowed herself to plant a small, polite, quick kiss upon his cheek. It was gone in a second, and yet he felt the warmth and tenderness linger there after it had gone.

With a flickering smile he nodded to his parents as the trains doors slammed and shut out their faces, and with his heart in his throat he took a deep, steadying breath and made his way through the train to find a friendly compartment.

…..-

"I mean, he can't really mean it Rosie"  
"Oh of course he doesn't Al, but nevertheless he made it extremely plain that he disapproved-"  
"Well I don't think Aunt Hermione would mind if you got into Ravenclaw"  
"Yes, but _she_ wasn't in Ravenclaw-"  
"At least you've got the brains for a house like Ravenclaw…"

Albus left the sentence hanging and looked determinedly out of the carriage window. Rose also fell silent and buried her long nose in _A Standard Book of Spells, Grade One_. Their thoughts however were broken, as the door to their carriage opened and a boy with a pale, pointed face stood there. He took in Rose and Albus and for a second he looked as if he was considering slamming the door shut on them.

"Do you mind if I sit in this… Compartment?" He looked nervous, but his voice was quite steady when he spoke.

Albus stared, and Rose and he simultaneously looked at each other, before looking back at the pale boy and both giving an unenthusiastic nod. Rose shifted her frizzy auburn fringe out of her eyes as she went back to her book as Albus looked back out the window whilst Scorpius dragged his trunk into the compartment and sat in the corner closest to the door.

The tension in the compartment was evident, and was not being made much better by Scorpius throwing nervous looks at his two companions every few seconds.

Finally rose slammed her book shut with enough force to make both boys jump.

"What," she said testily, and through gritted teeth "are you staring at?"

She had inherited her father's bluntness and her mother's stubbornness. She looked as determinedly at him as he was looking away from her. Albus looked between the two of them, he knew that Rose would not likely let this go easily, and was not looking forward to what would happen if this Scorpius boy wouldn't comply.

After a very awkward pause, Scorpius said in a tiny, almost silent voice "You're Rose Weasley." 

Although Rose flushed and looked taken aback, she drew herself to her full height and opened her mouth to retort, but Scorpius spoke before her, this time his eyes slowly broke away from his shoes and he looked at the boy sitting across from him, "And you're Albus Potter".

"How-" Albus began but Rose cut across him  
"I suppose you've heard all about us from your _father_ have you?" She said fiercely.

Scorpius' eyes slowly broke away from Albus as he looked back towards Rose, he said in a cautious voice "I have."

She glared at him, and her voice shook as she said "And I suppose he told you how stupid my uncle is, or how filthy my father is for marrying my muggle-born mother?" Albus had never heard Rose talk like this before and he had to admire Scorpius for not breaking eye contact with her.

But he was not glaring back at her as she was at him, he was merely staring, he looked curious and confused and he said slowly "No," whilst still looking into her eyes he muttered "he told me how your parents saved his life"

Rose looked as though he had slapped her.

Scorpius was still staring at her curiously and thankfully, the awkward moment was broken by the arrival of the witch with the trolley filled with sweets.

Scorpius brought a single chocolate frog, though it was evident he could have brought more as the witch had to hand him change for a galleon.

Rose and Albus however seemed to want to take the opportunity to have enough snacks to stuff into their mouths as they could, as it was evident this would be a very awkward train ride.

Half an hour passed before Scorpius opened his chocolate frog, by which time Rose and Albus were completely ignoring him, and instead laughing at each other's reactions to the different Bertie botts every flavoured beans they bravely popped into their mouths.

"Dammit not Adrolemea again" Scorpius muttered to himself after inspecting his chocolate frog card, however his complaint did not go unheard.

"Did you say Adrolemea?" Albus asked before he could stop himself, a brown spotted bean halfway towards his mouth.

"Yes, only I've gotten her about three times already" Scorpius said hastily.

Albus hastily pushed his beans to one side and started to rip open his own chocolate frogs, only to come to the end of the pile looking disappointed.

"I've been trying to get Adrolemea for ages" Albus said, a hint of envy in his voice, "She's all I need to complete my famous dragon expert collection".

"Here Al, I'll see if I've got her in one of mine" Rose said, and she too started to rip apart her chocolate frog packets, "No such luck" she said after she tore the last one violently from its container "Oh, look" she said looking crestfallen "another Judkik the Third.. And I was really hoping for Joliah the second"

"Hang on, I just got him" Albus said shuffling through his discarded papers to try and locate the card.

"Oooh! You're the best Al! Though I don't have anything decent to swap with you"

"How about I swap with you then?" Scorpius said suddenly and Rose and Albus both looked towards him, "I've been trying to get a Judkik the Third card for ages… So if I swap with you, then you can swap with… With each other" he seemed to regret letting himself speak as soon as he finished his sentence.

Rose eyed him for a few seconds before slowly saying "Ok…"

And as the simple act of a chocolate frog card switching between each other discoursed, it slowly got easier to talk, and easier to laugh.

By the end of the journey, they were quite sorry to find that the train had come to a stop. The inevitability of their parting ways had become apparent, as it was evident between them that their houses would separate and perhaps even turn them against each other.

"Oh, James said you're supposed to leave your luggage on the train" Albus pointed out as Scorpius reached for his trunk.

"Oh right, thanks Alb-… Thanks" Scorpius muttered, he looked glumly out of the compartment doors to the children pushing each other out of the way. He was surprised to find that, after all the exciting things he had heard about Hogwarts, he did not want to leave the train.

"You can call me Al if you want, everyone does"

"Oh… Thanks.. Uh.. Al?" Scorpius said nervously as they made their way over to the large half giant shouting out "Firs' Years! Firs' Years!"

"Scorpius is such an unusual name" Rose said to him as Albus and Hagrid exchanged greetings "Do you have a nickname or a shortened version?"

"Uh..." Scorpius tried to recall a time in his life that he wasn't called by his name, other than his grandmother calling him an assortment of embarrassing endearing terms, he could not remember a time where somebody had called him something other than Scorpius "No, it's always been _just_ Scorpius"

"Well we'll have to do something about that then" Albus said as they clambered into the same boat, and made their way, for what they knew would be perhaps the last time they would be able to remain something close to friends before the sorting.

The castle in the distance was coming into sight, and their journey together was going to end as quickly as it had begun.

"You know… I wish there weren't houses at all" Albus muttered to himself as he helped Scorpius and Rose out of the boat, though it seemed as they looked nervously up at the grand castle, that neither had heard him, "It seems more trouble than it's worth".

He looked from his oldest friend to his new found companion, and felt suddenly angry that something as simple as a name could tear people apart.

…

_I don't know when the next chapter will be up, but it will be soon perhaps even tomorrow. Reviewing is nice. _


	2. A Sort of An Idea

The first years waited nervously in the corridor, they could hear the commotion of voices and laughter erupting from the great hall, and some students could be seen muttering aloud about what could be the test to determine which house they are in.

Scorpius already knew all about the sorting hat and his song at the beginning of the year to all first years. He looked towards Rose, and it was evident that she too knew about the sorting hat, as she was rolling her eyes in the direction of two nervous looking boys next to her arguing about whether they had to answer the riddle of a sphinx or tackle a werewolf.

"Didn't you see? It's a full moon tonight, it's got to be the werewolf"  
"But it can't be full moon _every_ time students need to get sorted!"  
"Well aren't we lucky then" the first one said grimly.  
"If it's a wrackspurt I think I'll do alright" A dreamy sounding voice chimed in. She had dark skin which was contrasted to her dirty blonde hair, cut in a sharp bob. She had wide, deep brown eyes and she had stowed her wand in one of the many loops of her earrings.

Before any of the first years could ask what exactly a wrackspurt was, or indeed how to defeat one, an old, stern looking witch walked with a cane slowly towards them. Her presence demanded their total attention.

"I am Professor McGonagal, Head of Gryffindor house. Once I have given your instructions, you are to line up in single file and walk to the end of the great hall where you will wait for me to call your name, and for the sorting hat to sort you."

"I _told you_ it wasn't a werewolf!" hissed the very relieved looking boy who had been arguing before, but quickly closed his mouth once he saw the teacher eyeing him.

Professor McGonagal said "Come" and as she turned around, the doors of the great hall flew open, and hundreds of eager students faces were looking in their direction.

Tentatively, one by one, the students filed into the great hall, and made their way to where the sorting hat sat.

….

As the owls came in the next morning and swooped down upon the students of Hogwarts, Scorpius looked up eagerly to see a majestic brown barn owl circle around his head before landing gracefully in front of him. He hastily took the letter from the barn owl, and ripped it open.

"Oh you've got a reply from your father already?" Rose asked coming up behind him. She had secretly made a promise to herself before the sorting that no matter what house the three would be placed in, she would remain friends with both of them. Scorpius had definitely made an impression on her during the trip on the Hogwarts express. She was surprised and quite happy to find that he was quite intellectual, though not, as she was secretly pleased to discover, as much as she was. But then again, she would be a rather hard person to surpass when it came to knowledge. She had inherited her mother's smarts, and unsurprisingly, her stubbornness to. She was not going to let go of this potential friendship over something as silly as the sorting.

"Yes, I sent him a letter as soon as we went to bed after the feast was finished."

"And what did he say?"

"Well he is beyond proud of the fact that another Malfoy has been made a member of the Slytherin house, and says that the rest of Slytherin should be grateful for obtaining me" He said with a laugh at his father's smugness, before stowing the letter away in his robe pocket.

Rose raised one eyebrow in confusion, "But you were sorted into Gryffindor"

"Yes, _I_ know that, but there's no reason that he needs to" Scorpius replied happily before starting on his porridge.

Rose was about to argue about Scorpius' lie to his father, when Albus came up and sat opposite Scorpius. Sitting down also, Rose wondered if the sorting hat had deliberately placed them into the same house, despite perhaps, not exactly belonging. As she nibbled on a piece of toast the hats voice from the night before still rung loudly in her ears.

_Oh another Weasley! _

_Hmm, yes a fierce determination, but not in a vain effort, and there are brains as well. Oh yes, that much is obvious._

_You'd do well in Ravenclaw, I think._

_Oh, but what's this? _

_Hmm, sometimes the heart does speak louder than the mind, so in that case I think it would see fit to place you in_

_GRYFFINDOR!_

He had shouted the last word to the whole of Hogwarts to hear and the Gryffindor table exploded with cheers and thunderous clapping. As much as she had racked her brains, she could not figure out what the sorting hat had meant.

…_Sometimes the heart does speak louder than the mind…_

"Something wrong Rose?" Scorpius asked, and Rose snapped out of her thoughts and realized suddenly she had been staring straight at Scorpius for the last few minutes.

"Oh, nothing," she said quickly looking away from him, "Just thinking of something the sorting hat had said to me."

"Tch… Well there's no way it could have been worse than what he said to me"

"Why, what did he say" Albus asked munching on his bacon.

"Oh just something about my blood status, family history, a cunning mind but also a lot of nerve, I honestly thought he would put me in Slytherin, but now that I think about it he didn't even mention the possibility."

Albus laughed "At least he didn't consider putting you in Hufflepuff"

"Why, is that what happened to you?"

"Yep, '_Very loyal it seems, extremely loyal, you know the house of Hufflepuff value loyalty very highly blah, blah, blah' _He didn't even mention Gryffindor until he yelled it out for the whole hall to hear.

"Hmm…" Rose appeared to be deep in thought.

"What's up?"

"Well… I was just thinking… You see the sorting hat considered putting me into Ravenclaw" Rose said slowly, her brow still furrowed in concentration as she ignored Albus' muttering of "I knew it".

"Go on?" Scorpius said across the table.

"Well… I was just wondering if… We didn't all come this year together… Well… We would maybe be put into those other houses" She finished lamely.

"What, you mean because we're all the same age we got put into Gryffindor?" Albus scoffed

"No" Scorpius said still looking at Rose "No, I think she means that we weren't meant to part ways because we all came together… And it's meant to stay together like that"

Rose smiled, glad that he had understood, but as she returned to her breakfast, still puzzled on the sorting hat's words;

"…_Sometimes the heart does speak louder than the mind…"_

…

Their first lesson was, unfortunately, a history of Magic. They took a seat to the back of the class, as they had been warned on the dullness of the ghost of Professor Binns from their parents.

Another Gryffindor girl glided in and took a seat next to Albus without asking whether she could or not, he looked rather surprised, and stared at her, wondering if he knew her or not. After about a minute he determined that, he had never seen her before, but with the exception of last night of the sorting.

"Uh… Hi! I'm Albus" He said, not exactly sure why he was introducing himself, all he knew was that her features looked vaguely familiar.

"Oh yes, I know that already" The girl said in a sing song sort of voice. He stared at her.

"I'm Weela Thomas" she said completely unfazed.

"Uh how do you-"

"Oh my parents know your parents very well; in fact, you've been to my house on several occasions"

"I- what? No I haven't I've only just met you!"

Scorpius, who was sitting between Albus and Rose, stopped talking to the latter to see what was happening at their table. Professor Binns had started droning on five minutes ago, nobody seemed to notice.

"Yes, no I'm definitely sure you have, I recognize your expression" She said confidently.

"Wait a moment," Rose intervened, "Weela Thomas… Al, she's right, we do know her,"

"You're both mad" He said staring from Rose back to Weela "I've never seen her before!"

"Well no actually, neither have I before yesterday but, Al, don't you see? She's Uncle Dean and Aunt Luna's daughter! Uh… You are aren't you?"

"Oh yes, very much so!" Weela said chewing on the end of her quill, "Only I don't call them Uncle and Aunt, you see"

"Well, yes I figured that, but how come Al and I have never seen you whenever we visit?"

"Well I'm always there, but you don't see me because there is nothing to see, you see?"

"Er…?" Albus looked at Rose, hoping for an explanation, but she too looked confused.

"Do you use a cloak or a charm?" Scorpius asked leaning across the table to look at Weela.

"Oh a charm, it's much simpler and then I don't have to worry about forgetting to take it anywhere. I needn't bother with a cloak; I've been able to do it since I was eight after all." She said matter-a-factly.

"I'm… Still… lost" Albus said now looking at Scorpius, his face begging for an answer.

Scorpius, who was now grinning, turned to the two cousins to explain what they couldn't figure out, "She likes to be invisible" He said simply, and Rose let out a loud "Oooooh!" as if the answer had been hanging before her eyes and she had just missed out on it.

Al still looked a bit confused "Wait… You… Invisible? And that means… While we've been over… Wait… Wait… There… And then… All along? Wait, wait, wait… why?" He asked trying to grasp a logical reason as to why somebody would become invisible whilst others were around were laughing, talking, and having tea and cakes.

"I suspect she doesn't like people" He turned back to Weela, "Is that right?"

"Not exactly, I just prefer to observe without being observed."

"But that's _awfully _advanced!" Rose said, obviously impressed "I mean most people can't even complete a full disillusion charm after getting their newts, let alone render themselves completely invisible!" Weela just shrugged as if Rose just simply said her handwriting was neat.

"She's right you know Weela, I doubt even some of the teachers here could do it!" Scorpius added, still grinning widely.

"Oh, you can call me Lala if you like. Nearly everyone does. _Weela in Lala-land_, my father calls me" She didn't at all seem embarrassed of declaring publicly the pet name her father had given her.

"Alright then, you can call me Al, Rose is Rosie and Scorpius… Well he's just Scorpius until we figure something out for him" He laughed, and Scorpius' grin faltered slightly.

Rose, who seemed to have noticed, said hastily "Oh come off it Al, it can't be that hard to come up with a nickname… I mean the marauders all thought of pretty clever nicknames"

"Yeah but that's only because they were… They were-" He stopped his mouth parted slightly, a thought seemed to have struck him.

"Animagi, yes Al, it's not that hard of a word to learn"

"Rosie… That's it!" He said his mouth breaking into a wide smile.

"What's it?" Scorpius asked frowning, "And what's a marauder? And an Animagi..? I feel like I'm missing something here"

"Rose," Albus breathed still smiling, his eyes wide, "That's it, we should become Animagi! Just like Grandpa and the other marauders!"

"Al, that's an incredibly stupid idea, not to mention illegal and incredibly difficult, and don't forget dangerous if something goes wrong. Besides, they only became Animagi because of their _furry little problem_"

"I'm still missing something"

"No Scorpius, don't worry, Al just had an idiotic idea"

"Well then, perhaps you can explain the idiotic idea, as it being idiotic doesn't change the fact that Scorpius and I still don't know what you're talking about" Weela said watching them, and Scorpius beamed at her when Rose looked away from him.

Rose glared at Albus, and then-

"Fine! Albus, you explain. It was your stupid idea in the first place" She hissed crossing her arms.

It took the rest of the history of magic lesson to explain all about the marauders, Moony's furry little problem, Animagi, and the nicknames and mischief that followed. And although Rose still looked disapproving, she couldn't seem to help butting in and correcting Albus whenever he missed an important part of the story or got something mixed up.

By the end of the lesson, Scorpius was hungry to hear more, the ecstatic thoughts of Animagi and of the stories of the marauders, and especially the map that Al had relived and shown to them had stuck in his head. But that was not the only thing that stuck in there throughout his first transfiguration lesson.

Because an idea, no matter how idiotic, once planted, is hard to get out of your mind.

…

_So that's chapter two, it is up straight after chapter one because I only just joined fan fiction and there is a two day wait on submitting stories when you first join. So in those two day's I've been writing to fill in time. Lucky you. As day one of waiting has only just finished perhaps chapter three will be up with this one._


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